offenhauser



Jan. 1, 1935. c, oFFENHAUsER APPARATUS FOR COOKING Filed Aug. 28, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR;

A rroRNEj.

Jan'. l, 1935. c. oFFENHAusER APPARATUS FOR COOKING Filed Aug. 28, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 JNVENToR.

M ATTORNEY.

Patented Jan. 1, 1935 1,986,115;vl mmm-Fn 'comme j" i Ghrstopher O'enhauser, Philadelphia, Pa. Appliationaugust; es, iesil'lseriino. `559,368 f if claims'.

The object of this invention. is`l tofrdevise a. novel apparatus for cookingpwhichis especially designed for the cooking of meat but which can be employed for the heat' treatment of ,any desired material. l

A further object isY to devisea *novell apparatus for cooking wherein the articlesl toibe cooked can be subjected to a boiling-liquid, steam, steam Whichfhas been superheated, ortoJ a combination of such steps. i'

It is now thev practice tov cook meat in a'loaf .form With the bone removed sov thatV` the cooked meat can be sliced' in a conventional slicing machine. This is especially trueof hamand .pork vproducts Whichf are placed in-acontainer andv subjected to pressure and a cover islthen applied and locked in position and the ham the container' is subjectedto a cooking action, such' as, for exampleyboiling.. Inso'rne establishments several hundred hams-a dayA are cooked in this manner and considerable hand labor is necessary as the hams haveto be'v placed inv their containers and placed under a pressure: and thereafter the cover is locked in position and the hamsv cooked. This necessitateswthe individual'. removal of each ham cooker While hot, from the tankV in which it' islcooked. The cooked hams after being all'ovvedto cooll are then comlpressed andv individually "placed in a cooling chamber or refrigerator.

It is the object of my' presentinvention to devise. novel means wherebya large number of hams, or other material, maybe handled as` a unit, the containers in Whichtle hams `are placed being carried by'a novel'. construction and arrangement' of a rack. having means to apply pressure to the covers so that during the cooking i additional pressure: may'be appliedl and' alsov during the cooling, and, if desired, vvhilethe hams are in the refrigerator, so that a uniformly shapedv product' can be obtained invwhi'ch the '.juices and avors l are Y retained.

A further object is tofdevisel novel of covers for the article containers;V

Withv the above and other? objects in view-,- as

-Will hereinafter morel clearly appearymy invention comprehends.. at novelv method; of andiapparae article containers and provided` witnlmeans to exert andA maintain a Vdesired. Y pressure on: the

covers of `su'ehfcontai'ners Whilef the. afrtielecontainersf. are intheir carrier..- J

(Clk99j-f2l e Itffurther -comprehends a novel cooker and vvlliere'ina` novel article carrier isem'f played having" movable shelves to` receive the articles to press against, by arpreferably ycontinuous' pressure, the covers for the article containers supported on the shelves, means being also' provided` to limitA relative movement of the shelves andadjustable means also being provided- .forx .exerting a desired .pressure against the shelves.. i Y x It' vfurther comprehends a .novell construction :and arrangement of a'. carrier. receivingtank and novel means for. placing the carriers inthe` tanks land'. removing them: therefrom. `It further comprehends a novel closed tank rhaving.compartments and adapted,` at the will .ofi the operator, to receive a liquid. or' steam,v and `novel. heating' means for the compartments.

Other novel features of construction andi advantage will hereinafter morefclearlly appear in ther detailed description and the appended claims. For the'purpose. of illustrating. the invention, v,I`have shown: inthe accompanying drawings a .typical embodiment of it, whichyin practice, -Wllvgivezsatisfactory and reliable results.` It is, ylfrov'vever',.to be understood that the various in- -strumentalities of which. my invention-consists can be variously arranged and organized, and my .i invention isI notlimited to the exact'arrangement :andlorganization of these instrumentalitiesl as herein setlforth, I f

Fig-ure l isla-.sectional elevation of an apparatus for cooking, embodying my' invention.A Figure 2` is an .end elevation of a carrier.

Figurei is a'perspective` view of aA cover which .maybe employed for the' article containers.

,Similar numerals of reference-indicate- -cor responding parts. 1 I y Referring to the drawingszi ly '.designateszaa tank having a jacket 2- pro'- vided with an inlet 3A for a heating medium and. -v aminlet 4xforiacooling medium.. l5 is a valve l controlled discharge outlet from tl-'ie- Water jacket. The tank is provided with a sectional-'cover 6j t'o `Aseal'.'ii'.siopen. top', and each `cover' is detaehably secured. in. position lby means of fastening devices 'l of' any desired construction'. The tank provided. with guides 8 for a partition 9", rejmovable` by, upward-VV displacement, when desired. n 101 designate valve `controlled steam inlets, and 1-11"designate valve controlled Water inlets for hot or cold Water, all of such inlets leading '.from a'source of "supplfyand'y discharging into 'thel sections; of `the tank.V`

i willi bel noted from Figure 1 that each sec-y y 'pivotedto `the uppermostshelf v,which forms a s lated and, as shown in Figure 1consists of two plates between which is disposed insulating material such as, for example,a sheet of asbestos.

The cover-,6 Lis provided -'with a temperature gauge 13 so that the operator can readily ascertain the temperature which is being maing-4r` tained in each cooking compartmentx Each compartment is also provided withy aconventional vent 14.

The articles which are to be cookedar placed' in pans or containers 15 havingremovablecovers 16 which are'provided near each of .theyfour corners with the upstanding lugs or"posts v1"?.A The ,carrier is in the form of a rack provided .with corner posts 18 on which are slidably mounted the shelves 19. The lowermost shelf` 20 is stationary andthe movable shelves 19V vhave `pivota'lly connected to them'slotted linksl 21\by meansy of fastening devices 22. The upper links 23, xed tothe upper shelves,A have theV pins. 23 passing through the slots. The uppermost. link lis pressure transmitting member and are...inthe form of sheet metal plates. The movement of the shelves '19 is effected,v by a pressure screw 24 yin threaded engagement `wtlfithe cross bar25 which is in the form of .a spider with diagonal bars and a hub, the bars being xed to the cor- ,ner posts 18 by means of the nuts 26 which .bear l,against the brace members'27, the ends of lwhich are mounted on the corner posts 18. TheY corner posts at theirupper ends are provided with the hooks 28. Each cover section is connected-with the hooks 28 by means of fastening-devices 29.

YEach cover section is provided with vrings 30 'which are adapted `to .be connected with 4vthe chain of a hoist V31 connectedwitha trolley 32 mounted on an over-head track 33 which preferably leads vfrom a filling place for the article containers to the tank and therefrom to. are- -frigerating chamber. ,The feed screws' 24extendvthrough the sections of the.` cover 16 and are provided with handles 434. exteriorly fof the cover so that the pressure on the articlesv inthe .article containers can be adjusted. during, the

4so thatrany or. all of the compartments willhave a vacuum therein. The inlet to .the jacket Yof the tank is preferably provided with an :automatic regulator so that a desired `steam pressure can be maintained. f;

automatic steam regulator is also provided for the steam pipes communicating' withl the compartments. l

As'IV'he operation willrnow be'readily apparent'to ,those skilled in this art and is as follows.

`I n accordance with this invention.. the articles ,may be cooked in a boiling liquid, hot Water,

steam, in a vacuum, or they may be, subjected j to a baking action, `with a desired pressure in a compartment or with a vacuum in such." compartment. f

Itis wellfknown that the time requisite-for cooking an edible article fdepends uponits weight,

for ekample, a ham which weighsonly/eight f2 Y Y 1,986,115

pounds does not take the same amount of time to cook as a ham which weighs fifteen pounds. For this reason articles of approximately the same weight are placed in the same carrier, so that they may be removed from their compartment when done without interfering with the cooking operation which is taking place in another compartment.

In accordance with this invention ham, for example, maybe partially boiled or steamed, the Water-in thecompartment then drained oi, the current turned on the electrical heating unit,

'and the cooking completed by a baking action so that theouter surface of the article being cooked "l will Abe crisp and browned.

. The articles'V are `placed in the article containersV 15 and the covers 16, which serve as press .platesare placed in the position, and, if desired, an. initial pressure applied thereto. The container's'are then placed on the shelves, filling the ,carriell to its?` capacity, A; which may be .several hundred, containers.'1l1e section of the cover 6 is thenloweredand sealedin position over the -compartment 'f in which the carrier has been placed. The proper valve is nowopened to adi :mit hotfwater or steam into the compartment or ,the vacuurnpump is started to exhaust air or steam from the compartment.

ATheaarticlesV are thus lsubjected for a desired length of time to the action of 4boiling water Yo rof steam.- The waterfor, steamcan be removed from thevtank and the cooking action completed by:,dry,-heat. The articles can be cooled without removal from the tankv by passing a cooling medium through the water jacket ,or by 'draining off the liquid inwhich they are ,cooked and passing cooling water into the compartments in which theyhave beenV cooked.

-As' shrinkagey occursl during the cooking, the pressure -onthe articles can be increased by ac- ;tuating the feed screws.

' .After Vthe .articles are cooked fastening devices for a coversection are released, the chain hoist is connected with the cover, and the'cover and .article carrier are raised out of the compartment -and moved into thecooling or refrigerating gchamber. While. theyare inthe refrigerating .chamberthe. pressure on the articles can be in- ;creased by; actuating the feed screw of an individual carrier.

- When the articlesA are removed from their article 'containers they will have a pressed and moulded form conforming to the shape of the container in` which they have been cooked.

. The articlesof food inthe article containers can be -,partially orv wholly cooked by the action `of hot waterin their compartment ,or by the .action of' steam'and-theA steam may be superheated by thesource Aof i heat beneath the compartment. u

Ifthearticles are to be partially boiled the water in the compartment ycan bedrained oi through the valve control connection'. 'I'he articles can then be subjectedl toL steam or to steam which,` has been superheated by the exter- .nal/sources of `heat,ior simply the `dry'heat em- .plgyed produced bythe externalsource of heat beneath a compartment.

YOne can also maintain a'vacuum in a cooking .chamber ofa compartment during the baking operation. l

.r .i When the pressure feed screw is unscrewed the pressure ,transmitting member, whichu has swiv- .elled connection with saidfeed screw, `is raised, thereby separating the shelves .so thatv the article containers can be readily removed from their carrier.

In some cases it is advantageous to employ resilient means between the shelves and I have shown in Figure 2 springs between the shelves which encircle the corner posts. yIn Figure 1 only a few of the springs are shown. One advantage in the use of the springs is that'it provides for the relative separation of the covers and their containers due to the expansion of the article being cooked during the cooking operation.

It will now be apparent that I have devised a new and useful apparatus for cooking which embodies the features of advantage enumerated as desirable in the statement of the invention and the above description, and While I have, in the present instance, shown and described a preferred embodiment thereof which will give in practice satisfactory and reliable results, it is to be understood that this embodiment is susceptible of modification in various particulars without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention or sacrificing any of its advantages. i

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isz n 1. In an apparatus for cooking, a jacketed tank having separate compartments, a cover for each compartment, fastening means for the covers, an article carrier connected with a cover and having relatively `movable shelves, article containers on the shelves having covers provided with lugs engaged by the shelf above it, a pressure feed screw to effect relative movement of the shelves while in their compartment, and means to introduce a cooking medium into said compartments.

2. In an apparatus for cooking, a jacketed tank having separate compartments, a cover for each compartment, fastening means for the covers, an article carrier connected with a cover and having relatively movable shelves, springs between juxtaposed shelves tendingfto separate them, article containers on the shelves having covers provided withlugs engaged by the shelf above it, a pressure feed screw to Yeffect relative movement of the shelves while in their compartment,` and means to introduce steam into said compartments.

3. In an apparatus for cooking, a jacketed tank having separate compartments, a cover for each compartment, fastening means for the covers, an article carrier connected with a cover and having relatively movable shelves, article containers on'the shelves having covers provided with lugs engaged by the shelf above it, a pressure feed screw to effect relative movement of the shelves while in their compartment, means to introduce hot water or steam into said compartments, and means independent of said jacket to heat said compartments.

4. In an apparatus for cooking, a jacketed tank having separate compartments, a cover for each compartment, fastening means for the covers, an article carrier connected with a cover and having relatively movable shelves, article containers on the shelves having covers provided with lugs engaged by the shelfv above it, a pressure feed screw to effect relative movement of the shelves while in their compartment, means to introduce a cooking medium into said compartments, a vacuum pipe for each compart- `exterior of the tanks for effecting relative movement of said shelves. l

6. In a cooker and presser, a tank, means to maintain therein a desired cooking temperature, a rack having superimposed shelves interconnected for relative vertical movement, a pressure transmitting member connected with one of said shelves, a screw to move said pressure transmitting member downwardly, article containers on said shelves having removable covers against which the pressure of said pressure transmitting member is exerted, a hanger fixed to said rack, a stationary track,'and a trolley on said track connectable with said rack to lower it into and raise it from said tank and to transport it to a desired place of utilization.

7. In a cooker and presser, a tank closed at its sides and bottom and, a rack within the tank having superimposed shelves, a cover for sealing vthe top of said tank and removable from it with the rack connecting means between the cover and rack, means to secure said cover to said tank, and means to effect relative movement of said shelves and maintain them in the positions to which they have been adjusted when within or removed from the tank.

CHRISTOPHER OFFENHAUSER.

CTI 

